The Possibilities are Endless
by MagicFireTiger
Summary: ...Or so they seem. Up until they were six, twins Tadashi and Akira were living a happy life with their parents and baby brother Hiro. But one fateful night separates the brothers from Akira. And the thing is—only Tadashi has any clue who Akira Hamada is. Years later—after the events of Big Hero 6—Akira comes home to Hiro—but with her comes a new threat to them all. NOT AU
1. Chapter 0: Prologue

**A/N: Hey, guys, hi. I'd like to thank you all for reading this fanfiction. :) First of all, however, I would like to just let you know that this story was originally by a fellow fanfictioner named Krypie. Krypie, however, has given me the reigns of this story. I'm going to be rewriting the chapters that Krypie originally wrote, and change up the story a bit. So for now, most of this dialogue and such goes to Krypie. :) Thanks again for reading and have a great day! :D**

* * *

Prologue

"Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Hamada. You are now the parents of a healthy baby boy and girl," said the smiling nurse, handing the new parents their babies. The little boy and girl were crying, almost in sync. They were bundled up in blankets, one in blue, one in pink. Soft black fuzz was on their heads.

Mr. Hamada smiled as he took his newborn son in his arms, gently rocking him until he stopped crying. "What are we going to name them?" he asked his wife, sweat still shining on her face.

"Tadashi . . . Tadashi and Akira," she replied.

"Tadashi and Akira Hamada. Hmm . . . they both have a nice ring to them," Mr. Hamada complimented. His wife looked up, smiling. The little girl named Akira had also stopped crying, nearly the same time as her brother.

The doctors left the room to allow the new family to bond. The Hamadas both held their children close, never wanting to let go.

* * *

Three years later, Tadashi and Akira were playing around the backyard, chasing each other around the trees and swing set. Their parents were watching them from the porch, deep in conversation.

"When are we going to tell them?" asked Mrs. Hamada, looking at her husband.

"Why not today?" suggested Mr. Hamada.

"I'm worried about how they'll react. What if they get upset?" whispered his wife, a scared expression on her young, smooth face.

"What if they don't? They're very mature for three and a half years old," said Mr. Hamada.

His wife sighed in defeat. She gave a small smile. "All right. I'll go make dinner now, and then we'll tell them," she said, and stood up and walked back into the house.

* * *

The four Hamadas sat around the dinner table in silence, having just finished eating. The twins looked at their parents expectantly, waiting for them to say something, because they had just told them that they were going to give them some very important news.

"What is it, Momma?" asked Akira, her soft brown eyes looking up at her mother so innocently and curiously.

"Well . . . uh. . . . Do you remember how you said you wanted another brother or sister a while ago?" their mother started.

"Yeah . . ." said Tadashi.

"Well . . . your mother is going to have a baby. Isn't that wonderful?" Tadashi and Akira's father said finally.

"Where is it?" questioned Tadashi curiously.

"It's it my tummy," his mother replied.

The twins looked at their mother in horror. "You ate it?!" they shrieked.

"No, I didn't eat it," she laughed.

"How did it get in there?" asked Tadashi.

"That's a conversation for when you're both older," their father answered quickly.

"We're going to get a brother or sister?" said Akira excitedly.

"Yep," said their mother. She gave a smile, suddenly realizing exactly how excited she was, too.

"When?" exclaimed Tadashi.

"In about eight months," answered his mother.

"Why?" asked Tadashi.

"I'm not sure why. Sometimes you just have to wait," replied his father.

"Okay," Tadashi and Akira said in resigned voices. As one, they fell onto the backs of their seats.

"Oh, don't be sad," said their mother, pushing back their hair before enveloping them both in a hug. "We'll be one big happy family when the baby comes. Until them, we all just have to wait."

* * *

The last few hours had been a flurry of activity for Tadashi and Akira. It was eight months since they had been given the news that they were going to get a new baby brother or sister. That morning, they had watched as their mother gave a scream of agony on the living room couch. They watched as their father hurried them and their mother out the door, through stop signs and red lights that seemed to last forever to get to their Aunt Cass's house.

The car had stopped abruptly at the café where their aunt worked. Their father had run inside and a minute later had come out with Aunt Cass, who immediately was helping get Tadashi and Akira out of their car seats. They were so confused the whole way there. Why had their mother been screaming? But they were afraid to ask what was wrong. They had watched their aunt hug their mother, and then their father had driven off.

Their aunt had taken them both upstairs above the café, where she lived, and closed the café early due to a "family emergency." Now they finally had a chance to speak.

"Aunt Cass, why are we here?" asked Akira in a small voice. They were all sitting on Aunt Cass's sofa in front of the blank television screen.

"Your father said you weren't allowed to go to the hospital," her aunt answered with a small smile.

"Why are they going to the hospital?" said Tadashi.

"Your new brother or sister is coming today. You were probably really scared when you heard your mother screaming, right?" Aunt Cass said, and they both nodded. "Well, she was screaming because it can really hurt to have a baby."

"When can we go see Momma and Papa?" asked Tadashi.

"When your papa calls me, we can go see them," answered Aunt Cass. She suddenly enveloped the twins into a hug, muttering, "I love you guys," before releasing them and turning on the T.V. to distract them — or rather, to distract herself.

It was like some sort of evil spirit haunted Aunt Cass's phone that day. Every time the phone rang, it was either someone who had dialed the wrong number, or someone hoping to sell some useless item or whatnot to them. For hours they waited, and it wasn't until the sun had begun to set outside that they finally got the phone call they had been waiting for.

"Hello?" Aunt Cass said into the phone. Akira and Tadashi watched as her face lit up during a second of silence and she shouted, "Really?! We've been waiting all day!" After another moment of silence, she said, "All right, we're on our way," and hung up the phone.

"Come on, Tadashi and Akira!" she called, and they all ran down the stairs into the car.

"Whoops! Almost forgot my camera!" she said a split second after she had buckled them into their car seats. She ran back into the house and came back a minute later with a camera in her hands. And then they were off.

They reached the hospital in a little less than half an hour. Aunt Cass asked for the room number her brother and his wife were in. The twins practically dragged her to the room (at the last moment she seemed to have decided she didn't want to go in), but they got there in the end. When they opened the door, they were greeted by the smiling faces of their father and mother, a small bundle in Mrs. Hamada's arms.

"Come and see your new baby brother," their mother whispered as they crept over to her.

Tadashi and Akira's grins seemed to reach their ears identically. They were just so indescribably happy to see their new brother. He had jet black hair, just like everyone else in the Hamada family, but it was messy, little tufts of it all over his head.

"Would you like to hold him?" their mother asked. Tadashi nodded, but Akira stayed back. She wasn't comfortable with the idea of holding something so fragile yet. She watched as her mother gently handed the baby over to Tadashi (who had since sat up on the bed with her), and then she walked over to them. The baby had opened his eyes. He had dark amber eyes, just like everyone else in their family.

"What's his name?" she asked in a small voice, looking up at her parents.

"His name is Hiro," answered her father.

"Hi, Hiro," the twins cooed. Hiro smiled, and all of the adults in the room that saw said, "Awe."

Aunt Cass pulled out her camera. "All right, everyone. Let's get a family photo!"

The four older Hamadas smiled, too, and heard a small click as Aunt Cass took the picture. "That's a keeper!" she said, showing them the picture. The family stayed at the hospital all night, not wanting to yet leave the new addition to the Hamada family, even if it was for just a little while.

* * *

Six year olds Tadashi and Akira and two year old Hiro were going to the fair with their parents. It was only in town for a few days, so they, of course, had decided to go while they still had the chance. They went on the Ferris wheel, the roller coasters, played carnival games, visited the animals, and did everything they could do in a day.

The tired family was walking home from the carnival after dark one night, and their parents had told Tadashi and Akira to stay close (Hiro was in a stroller pushed by his mother). But apparently Akira had not stayed close enough to her brother, because when they all turned a corner, she felt her arm being yanked to the side. She screamed.

Her parents saw in the dim light that two hulking figures had started carrying her off. Mr. Hamada ran after them, leaving Mrs. Hamada with Tadashi and Hiro, not wanting to risk his sons being taken off as well. Suddenly, he and his wife had felt something sharp prick their skin. He had started chasing after the men, but suddenly felt very, very dizzy. He and his wife both fell over, unconscious, and lay there on the ground for what felt like forever. Then they woke up, groaned, and took Tadashi and Hiro home, as though their daughter had not been taken away at all.

Tadashi was confused. Why hadn't his papa gone after the two men? He missed his sister. He asked his parents why, but they didn't seem to have any clue as to what he was talking about. He fell asleep that night, wondering why his sister had seemed to have disappeared right off the place of the planet.

Months later, it was as though Akira had never existed. Tadashi wondered if she had just been a dream. He cried at nights and had nightmares about her being taken off, and he didn't know what to believe, because to his parents, there was not and had never been an Akira Hamada in the world.

* * *

Tadashi and Hiro's parents died in a car crash a year later. The two brothers had been sent to live with their Aunt Cass. Now, Tadashi felt even lonelier than ever. He didn't mention his sister. Not even Aunt Cass seemed to remember her. But he hadn't given up the hope that one day, he would see Akira again.

Sometimes, he thought he heard her screaming into the night. He would wake up, yelling in fear; Aunt Cass would come running, and he would always exclaim the name that was as unfamiliar to her as a star in the farthest galaxy: Akira Hamada.

* * *

 **Thanks again for reading this. Make sure to favorite, follow, review! (if you want. :P) BTW, I have some other fanfics you may or may not be interested in for "Frozen" and "Tangled" (together), Harry Potter, and "Inside Out." Feel free to check 'em out and thanks AGAIN! :D**


	2. Chapter 1: The Experiment

**A/N: Thank you to all those who have reviewed, favorited, and followed this story. :) It means a lot to me. By the way, for those of you who may think this chapter is a bit confusing, hopefully everything will be cleared up within the next few chapters (if not, hopefully by the end of the story :P). Anyway, this one is a bit shorter, sorry 'bout that, but I figured I ended it at a good enough place. Anyway, enjoy! :D**

 **Chapter One**

 **The Experiment**

Akira gritted her teeth as she felt the needle sink into her skin. She could bear this pain. But what might come of it later, she was unsure. . . . But one thing was for certain. If she got out of this experiment alive, she was going to leave this place, once and for all. And forever.

She stared into the eyes of the experimenting doctor. He had a white coat on and glasses he always had to push up his nose. And he was scary. But Akira had gotten used to him and his experiments. Because she had been a part of them for twelve years.

Akira sat on a chair in a dark room she had known for that same amount of time. There were tubes and a white platform to lie on and cupboards full of unspeakable things. She sighed.

"You're not done yet," said the doctor, going to a computer nearby and typing some things on it. "Hold still. I need to analyze the drug."

Behind the doctor's back, Akira gave him a scowl. She grunted.

"What was that?" asked the doctor.

"Nothing . . ." Akira muttered.

She heard more typing from in front of her. She sighed and rubbed her neck where the needle had pierced her skin. She was sick of this, of all this . . . experimenting. She needed to get out. She'd been waiting for much too long for this. . . .

The doctor stepped back from the computer. "You may go to your room," he said. He didn't look at Akira longer.

Akira sighed and walked silently out of the room, still rubbing her neck. It felt strange there . . . it was as though something was creeping through her, from that spot down, down throughout her body, spreading like a disease. She wondered if it would kill her.

The halls of were metal and dark and thin. Though she could barely see, Akira found her way to her room in mere minutes. She faintly saw a white-clothed, masked guard standing outside it. The guard unlocked the door and Akira stepped inside and sat down onto her bed, which wasn't really a bed at all – just a thin mattress and some blankets and pillow on a thin piece of metal emerging from the wall.

She rubbed her eyes and lay down, staring up at the gray ceiling, the light from a single bulb hanging in the center of the ceiling illuminating it. The strange sensation intensified as she stared. It suddenly became quivery, and she felt dizzy. The ceiling seemed to shake before her, though in reality, it was still. Akira knew that either death or what the doctor was hoping for was coming. She wondered what it would be. Right now, she couldn't care either way, though if she proved that the experiment had worked, things might turn out even worse. . . .

Suddenly, an enormous amount of pain overcame her. Within seconds, Akira had blacked out.

* * *

Akira didn't know how long she had been unconscious for. There were no windows in her prison cell (which _they_ said was her home), no clock to tell what time it was. All was silent, as it had been for twelve years. Suddenly, pain washed over her entire being; blinding pain that made her want to die, to get everything over with. It slowly, slowly died away, but not before she had tumbled off her "bed" and onto the hard, cold ground beneath her. She gritted her teeth to stop herself from screaming in agony, but she couldn't. . . . Now all she wanted to do was die. . . .

But wait . . . something was washing over Akira, something strange, odd, and it wasn't pain . . . it was different, nothing like she had ever felt before. . . .

It was power.

She stopped screaming and sat up, breathing heavily. She knew now that the experiment had gone perfectly well. Perhaps a little too well for the experimenters.

Akira stood up and pushed her black, waist-length hair back. Her amber eyes had shadows under them and her teeth were still gritted. She turned around from facing the door in her tiny prison cell (barely big enough to hold a lion) and looked at her bed. Oh, that bed, it brought back such memories from twelve long years ago.

Now, it was time to go back home.

What seemed like minutes later, Akira was out in the open air once more. She breathed it in as though it were her last breath. But it wasn't.

She had left evidence that she had gone from her prison behind her, but she didn't care. She could fight them off if she had to. The stone walls behind her were destroyed. And she was going home.

Akira was going home.

She turned around and looked at her prison one last time. Then she looked at her surroundings. She had time. What she had left behind would give her hours before her captors were able to start searching for her. Akira was, as a matter of fact, on the edge of the ocean. Right in front of her, the sea loomed, wide and enormous and seemingly never-ending. Now, she didn't quite know what to do.

Akira remembered her swimming lessons from when she was younger. She closed her eyes. She'd been better than Tadashi. Except for at backstroke. She'd hated backstroke. Now, she had no choice but to start swimming, either until she couldn't do it any more or found a boat. So she waded into the cold water. Fortunately, her jean shorts weren't very long, and her shirt was simple. Orange. Her least favorite color. But perhaps it would be easier for people to notice her in the brightness of her shirt.

She then began swimming.

Akira didn't know how she'd managed to make it so far. But what seemed like hours later, she was still managing to stay afloat. And then a large boat came in sight.

Her heart leapt. "Hey!" she shouted. "Hey! Somebody help me! Please!"

Akira yelled until her throat was dry. Finally, a man and a woman noticed her cries and yelled to her that they would get someone. Minutes later, Akira was on the boat, shivering, in a towel, and sitting on a sofa in the couple's room on the ship, which turned out to be a cruise ship, holding a cup of hot chocolate.

The woman who had seen her came over and sat down beside her. "All warmed up, dear?" she said kindly.

Akira grunted and nodded.

"Are you all right?" asked the woman. "Being stranded in the middle of the ocean can't be all that fun, can it?"

Akira shrugged and held onto her chocolate more tightly.

"Well, you can tell us how you got there once you're ready, all right?" said the woman, squeezing her shoulders before standing back up and walking away, leaving Akira alone to think.

All she knew right now was that she had just escaped from her prison of twelve years and was now on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean. It was on its way back to San Fransokyo, so she knew that once it reached port, she would be on her way to her house. She wondered how her parents would react. How Tadashi would react. How Hiro would react. Would he even remember? Would her parents and Tadashi have told him stories about her? They probably all thought she was dead. . . . She would be like a ghost to them, probably.

If only she had known that they didn't remember her at all.


	3. Chapter 2: Maple Street

**A/N: Hey, y'all. Sorry this update's a bit later than before. You're just going to have to expect that, since I'm actually handling four different stories at once . . . go ahead and check those out! :P Thanks again for all your support, guys! :)**

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

 **Maple Street**

Akira had been silent for the whole rest of the way back to land. The couple and others had both asked questions, but she refused to answer them, instead being cold and silent and almost completely unresponsive. They'd arrived back on the coast the next morning, and the couple and captain of the ship were intending on insisting that she tell them what she was doing, because a girl that just happened to be swimming smack in the middle of the ocean was very curious.

But once all the luggage of the people on the cruise ship had been loaded off, Akira had vanished, slipped away, leaving no trace of herself behind.

She was ready to go home.

* * *

As it turned out, going home wasn't going to be as easy as Akira had thought.

The boat had gotten off at a port in San Fransokyo, which was where her family lived. But she wasn't sure that they would still be at their house; it was a bit small for them, even when she and Tadashi were only six and Hiro two. But this was Akira's biggest lead, so that was where she was going to have to go.

The problem was, she had no idea where she was in San Fransokyo. The last time she'd been here was twelve years ago; she'd never left that _place_ in all the time she'd been gone. Everything around her was unfamiliar.

Her only option now was to start asking people.

"Excuse me?" she said, tapping a man's shoulder. She'd left the port where the ship had gotten off and was now on the busy streets of the city.

He turned around. He was huge, hulking.

"What do you want?" he asked gruffly.

"Where — where are we?" she asked, knowing she sounded stupid and feeling heat rush up her face.

The man laughed meanly. "San Fransokyo, of course."

"Yes, but —"

"Hey, girly, I ain't no guide. Get lost." The man had turned away and started walking in that direction.

"Hey!" Akira shouted.

"Hey, you!" she continued, running after him. "Stop!"

The man didn't.

"Hey!" Akira caught up with him. "Dude!"

He ignored her.

"Answer me!"

And before she knew it, Akira had hit the man over the head.

He stumbled forwards and nearly hit the ground. He turned around, a scowl covering his face.

"I said, get lost," he said darkly.

"You give me some directions," said Akira in a low and dangerous voice.

"And why would I do that?" the man asked.

"Because I asked you to," said Akira.

"Looks like you've asked for a bit too much, girly."

And with that, the man had run at her, arms out and ready to punch her.

Luckily, Akira dodged and avoided a definite concussion. She stood up and punched him on the nose.

A lot of people had gathered around to watch this. Now, Akira had an audience.

The man stumbled forward again and stood back up, jeering.

"Guess I did," panted Akira. Her hands were ready to punch.

With a roar of rage, the man ran at her. She punched him in the stomach with extreme force that . . . she would not have been able to do normally.

"Whoops, sorry," she said sarcastically. "Did I hurt you?"

The man attempted to punch her. She dodged.

"Oh! I think you missed," she said, smirking.

"I won't this time!" He charged at her _again_ and then hit her in the head. She stumbled backwards, clutching it. It throbbed horribly. But then she stood back up and looked at him darkly.

With a cry of fury, Akira ran at him and bowled him over and punched him with such force that he fell backward, unconscious.

She stood back and looked at the people watching.

"Don't you people have lives to get on with?" she snarled. "Go!"

They all backed off. Akira looked down at the man in front of her. He'd come to soon, so she'd have to leave.

But there was something Akira felt as she stared at him. She'd just hurt a man. She'd done something she'd promised she wouldn't do when she was just a little kid watching her brother get taunted and hurt at the playground. . . .

She didn't want to remember that. And she had a job to do.

* * *

Akira wandered throughout San Fransokyo. She walked and walked and walked, searching for the neighborhood she'd lived in. And then her heart skipped a beat.

There it was. Maple Street.

She rushed down it and to the house she _knew_ to be hers and stopped in front of the lawn. There was a car in the driveway — a different care than the one she had originally know, but it was probably obvious that her parents had gotten a new one over the past years. They were still home. What would she say? Her parents probably thought she was dead. And Tadashi . . . and Hiro. . . .

Now that Akira was finally going to see them again, worry flared up inside her. What would she _do_?

But she mustn't think about that. _Now or never_ , she thought as she walked up the path and to the front door.

She knocked on it and waited with baited breath.

A few moments later, she heard footsteps out in the hall. And then the door opened.

It was not Tadashi, whom she had been expecting, nor was it her father, mother, or even Hiro. It was a strange woman she did not know.

"Hello?" said the woman. "Who are you?"

"I — I'm Akira Hamada," said Akira, slightly nervously. "I — I live here?" she added, still more uncertainly.

"There's no one by that name that lives here," said the woman sharply.

"But — what?" asked Akira, confused. Well, perhaps they moved. "Do you know of any Hamadas that lived here before?"

"Well, yes," said the woman. "We moved in after two boys moved into their aunt's house. Something about their parents dying; tragic, really."

Akira felt her heart stop. Her parents? What? This woman — this woman must mean somebody else.

"Are — are you sure they were the Hamadas?" she said hesitantly.

"I'm pretty sure," said the woman.

"How long ago was this?"

"Eleven years ago. Why?"

"Oh — n-nothing."

"Now, is there anything else I can help you with?"

"I — no." Akira swallowed. "Thank you, though."

The woman was closing the door when Akira said suddenly, "Wait! Did — did they say anything about — about a girl? A sister of the brothers?"

"No," said the woman. Her eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Never mind," said Akira. "Thank you, anyways."

The woman closed the door, leaving Akira alone with her thoughts.

With the shock of what she had just realized, she stumbled over to a nearby lamppost and leaned onto it. She couldn't support herself.

Her parents . . . were dead. And Hiro, Tadashi . . . they were living with Aunt Cass; she knew that immediately, because they didn't exactly have any other aunts. Her parents were gone. And Tadashi and Hiro were all alone. . . .

She just couldn't believe it. But Akira did know one thing —

She was going to find Tadashi and Hiro, if it was the last thing she did.


	4. Chapter 3: Aunt Cass

**Chapter Three**

 **Aunt Cass**

Akira had been wandering around the city streets for hours. The sun was beating down on her head like lava. She was exhausted; she was thirsty; she was hungry. She'd been looking around for her family's neighborhood all day, with no luck. The sun was almost down.

It seemed like she would have to spend the night on city benches.

But not before she got some food.

Akira stepped into a gas station store and looked around, hands in her pockets. Outside in the busy, city air, traffic was still heavy, people were yelling out to each other, everything was loud and so unlike what Akira had just run away from. She took a bag of chips and a plastic water bottle from some shelves and went to the counter.

"That'll be eight dollars," said the man at the cash register.

Akira's heart skipped a beat. She didn't have any money on her.

"Uh . . ." she said, looking around. There was only one other person in the store, whose back was turned to her. Akira turned back to the man. "I, uh . . . I don't have any money."

"Tough luck. Go away, you're bad for business," said the man harshly.

Akira didn't move.

"I said get out," said the man. "Do you want me to call the cops?"

The woman walked up behind Akira, a cup of hot chocolate in her hands.

"Hello," she said.

Akira turned around and gasped.

It was her Aunt Cass, she would know her anywhere, even if she hadn't seen her in twelve years. And she . . . she didn't even seem to recognize her.

"Oh . . . are you in trouble?" she said, staring at Akira. Akira could see all she saw of her was some poor girl that needed some food. "Here, I'll pay for that." She pulled out her wallet and said to the cashier, "How much was that again? Five dollars?"

"Eight," said the man, looking from Akira to Cass and back.

"Whoa, these prices are going up like gas," Akira heard her mutter before pulling out eight dollar bills and handing it to him. "Here you go."

The man took them and put them in the cash register.

Aunt Cass then made her own purchase. She turned around to go but saw Akira still standing there.

"Thank you," said Akira.

Aunt Cass smiled. "You're welcome." Her expression then turned to one of concern. "Are you all right, honey?"

"I – not – not exactly," said Akira hesitantly.

"Do you have any place to go?" asked Aunt Cass. "You don't have any money, do you?"

Akira shook her head. "No . . . could you . . . help me?"

"Of course," said Aunt Cass. "Come with me."

Akira followed her out of the gas station store and to a car, wondering. . . . Aunt Cass was such a good person. She wondered if she'd taken any other poor, lost people in. She climbed into the car next to her and Aunt Cass started driving.

"So, I think if I'm going to be taking you in, I'll have to know at least your name," said Cass.

"Oh, my name?" Akira hesitated. Maybe it would be best if she didn't tell her her real name. . . .

"Akari," she said at last. It was not her real name, but not completely different. At least she would be able to figure out who her aunt or anyone else was talking to when she was called.

"Akari," said Cass wonderingly. "I like that. I'm Cass. You can stay in a spare room of mine, all right?"

"Okay," said Akira.

"So . . . if you don't mind me asking, how did you get into . . . whatever situation you're in?" said Cass hesitantly.

"Oh. . . ." Akira wasn't sure how to answer. Should she tell her the truth? No, she wouldn't believe her. So she decided with . . . a variation of the truth. "I – well, I was kidnapped years ago. Then . . . I escaped. That's . . . pretty much it."

Cass gasped. "Oh, you poor thing!"

Akira chuckled silently. This was her Aunt Cass, all right.

They pulled into a garage.

"All right, now, will you be staying just the night?" asked Cass.

"Well . . . I wasn't sure," said Akira.

"All right, then. I have a spare room you can stay in," said Cass. "Just don't steal anything!" she added playfully. But Akira could tell she was at least a bit serious.

"I won't," smiled Akira.

There was silence.

"You know, it seems like I know you, somehow," said Cass in an odd voice. "It's weird. And — no offense — but I don't think I'd have taken you in otherwise."

Akira turned to her. "None taken. You . . . don't think anything else about me . . . do you?"

"What? No," said Cass, clearly a bit surprised. "Why?"

"Nothing . . ." said Akira.

"So you don't have any place else to go, do you?"

"No . . . I don't," said Akira in a small voice, putting a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Well, then, you're welcome to stay here until you do," said Aunt Cass. "But there's one condition."

"What?" asked Akira. "I'll do anything for a place to stay."

"Well, I think if you're gonna be staying here, you need to, ah, 'earn your keep', so to speak. So if it isn't too much, I'd like you to work with me at my café," said Aunt Cass.

"Oh, of course!" said Akira.

"Until you can find a better job, of course," smiled Aunt Cass. "How old are you?"

"Uh . . . eighteen," replied Akira.

"Do you go to school?" asked Cass.

"Well, I do have an education," said Akira. It was true. She'd been given one at the place she'd been taken to. The people there . . . valued knowledge.

"Do you have any family?" Aunt Cass continued.

"I . . . well, not really, no," said Akira.

"Oh. Well, I suppose, once I've gotten to know you a bit better, you're welcome to consider me family." Cass gave a small smile.

"So maybe in a little while, you'll be able to live in an apartment by yourself and figure things out from there," continued Cass. "That all right?"

"It's . . . a great plan," replied Akira.

"Great . . . oh, look, we're here!" said Aunt Cass, pulling into a garage. "This way," she said, and led her inside the café and through it to the house part of it. "My nephew, Hiro, must still be at school," she continued. "I wonder what he'll think of you?" she added, seemingly more to herself than Akira. "Ah, well, I'm sure he'll grow on you."

Akira smiled. "Yeah, I guess he will."

But it was odd. Her nephew? Not nephews? What about Tadashi? Well . . . maybe he was somewhere else. . . .

"This way!" sang Aunt Cass, leading her up to a spare room. It was neat and small but comfortable-looking.

Akira stepped inside and fell onto the bed.

"Looks like someone's tired!" said Cass.

"I'll just . . . eat this real quick . . ." muttered Akira, looking at the bag of chips and water bottle in hand. But she fell asleep before she could say any more.

"Poor thing," said Aunt Cass softly, looking at the strange girl on the bed. "I wonder what she'd gone through to make her like this?" She shrugged it off. "Well, I'll just be a little careful. She'd a stranger, after all, but she's so sweet seems honest enough and doesn't seem to know what to do. . . ."

She went off to the kitchen, hot chocolate still in hand, to prepare herself some dinner. And she had no idea that the poor girl she had just let into her home wasn't a stranger at all.

 **A/N: Just an FYI for this next chapter, I wasn't completely sure about the whole Aunt-Cass-taking-in-Akira-right-after-they-met-and-Cass-doesn't-seem-to-have-a-clue-who-Akira-is thing, but meh. Let me know what you think by leaving a REVIEW! Yes - in the box - right below this - review - click it - type something - and - you did it! Or did you? :P (BTW, you don't have to, it'd just be kinda nice, you know. :P) Thanks again for reading! :)**


	5. Chapter 4: Dashi

**A/N: Thanks for the one review and two favorites and one follow! :) You guys are awesome! :D BTW, this story is actually quite fun to write . . . so hopefully it's fun to read! :) :P**

 **I do not own Big Hero 6. Disney does. I do not know why am stating the obvious. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

 **Chapter Four**

 **Dashi**

"Hiro – Hiro, if you keep eating so quickly, you're going to choke!" Aunt Cass said to her nephew, who was currently eating a plateful of pancakes and eggs.

"Dob wanna be labe," said Hiro, his mouth full of pancake.

"Excuse me?" said Aunt Cass in a reprimanding tone of voice, but she smiled. Hiro was just so _cute_ sometimes.

Hiro gulped down the last of his food and stood up from his seat, pushing his chair back with a loud _screech_.

"Don't wanna be late," he translated from his former words, and proceeded to grab a backpack before attempting to run out the kitchen door.

He was stopped as his aunt grabbed his shoulder and turned him around.

"What?" he said, clearly annoyed. "I'm in a hurry!"

"You don't have school today. Where are you going?" asked Aunt Cass suspiciously.

"I'm hanging out with the gang," replied Hiro in a hurried voice. "Now can I _please_ go?"

"No. Tell them you'll be there late – wherever you're going," said Aunt Cass firmly.

Hiro's shoulders drooped as his aunt lead him back to his seat at the table.

"What? I can't – I mean –"

"Use your phone. You've got it for a reason, you know," said Aunt Cass, and watched with her arms folded as Hiro did so.

Hiro hung up the phone and tossed it onto the table, saying, "So what is it, Aunt Cass?" in a very annoyed voice.

"Well, we have a guest," said Aunt Cass cautiously.

Hiro's eyes narrowed. "A guest?"

"Yes, a guest," confirmed Aunt Cass.

"Where is he?" asked Hiro.

"He? She's a she," said Aunt Cass, confused. "Why would I host a 'he' in my house that is not you?"

"Never mind. So who is this person?" said Hiro.

"Well . . . oh, look, she's coming now, she can introduce herself!" said Aunt Cass, looking over Hiro's shoulder.

Hiro spun around and immediately saw a strange girl walking out of the bedroom hallway-area. His first impression of her was that she was familiar. He didn't know how, but she was familiar to him.

The girl stopped walking and stared, pushing her long, jet-black hair out of her face to reveal dark amber eyes.

"H-Hiro?"

* * *

Akira knew she shouldn't have already known her brother's name (as she was currently posing as the nonexistent "Akari"), but she couldn't help it. She'd just found her brother after twelve years of separation.

Akira knew that he would be fourteen now. But that didn't change the fact that he looked so different from when he was only two years old. He'd grown so big. His hair was messier than Tadashi's had been when he was six. She wondered what he looked like now.

"How do you know my name?" asked Hiro, eyes full of suspicion.

"I—" Akira didn't know how to answer.

"I told her about you," said Aunt Cass. Akira breathed a silent sigh of relief.

"You – you did?" questioned Hiro.

"Yes, she did," said Akira.

Hiro's head swiveled around to face Aunt Cass. "Who is she?"

"Well. . . ." Cass looked at Akira.

"My name's Akari," said Akira.

"Why are you here?" Hiro continued.

"Well . . . your Aunt Cass found me at a gas station. I couldn't pay for anything. I don't have any place to go to . . . so she took me in," explained Akira in a small voice.

Hiro looked from her, to Aunt Cass, and back to her.

"Well!" said Aunt Cass, obviously trying to break the tension. "You guys can, um, get to know each other a bit more while I, uh, go open the store."

"Aren't I going to help out?" asked Akira.

"Oh, no, you eat something," replied Aunt Cass hurriedly, already on her way out the door. "There's pancakes and eggs, if Hiro's left you anything." With that, she had gone out the door.

Akira and Hiro exchanged looks, Akira's uncomfortable, Hiro's still suspicious. After a few moments, Akira decided that she was starving and gathered up some food. She sat down at the table across from Hiro (who was still staring at her), and began eating.

"You look familiar. Why?" Hiro said suspiciously after a little while.

Akira looked up from her second pancake. She was at a loss for words. Should she tell him? Everyone seemed to have forgotten who she was. . . .

She took a deep breath. Maybe . . . maybe he'd remember her.

"Well . . . Hiro . . . this – this is going to make me sound crazy, but –"

"But what? Akari, what is going on?!" Hiro shouted.

"Calm down! And that's not my name," said Akira slowly.

"Then what is it? What aren't you telling Aunt Cass and me?" demanded Hiro. "Or does she already know?"

"No, Hiro, she doesn't know what I'm about to tell you," said Akira carefully.

"Then get on with it!" exclaimed Hiro. He wasn't usually this demanding, but this was getting freaky.

"Hiro . . . I'm your sister."

There was silence.

"You – you're my _sister_?" Hiro said quietly. "Wait, _what_?" He stood up suddenly. "Are you telling the truth?"

"Yes, Hiro, I am. I'm your sister," said Akira. Her eyes started to fill up with tears.

Hiro sat back down. "How is that possible? I don't have a sister. It's just been me and . . . and Tadashi." He gulped.

"Yes, well, the thing is . . . what I told you earlier about my past wasn't all true," Akira explained slowly. "Well, it wasn't the whole truth, anyway."

"Then spit it out," said Hiro. His temper seemed to be flaring up.

"Well . . . my name is really Akira," Akira started.

"You just told me that's not your name."

"No, I said my name isn't Akari. They're similar, but not completely the same," she continued.

"O-okay," said Hiro uncertainly. "What else?"

"Well . . . the thing is . . . twelve years ago, we were at the fair. All five of us. It was for your second birthday. It was dark on our way home. Momma and Papa had told Tadashi and me to stay close together. I guess we hadn't stayed close enough. I was kidnapped. Abducted. I was taken to this place . . . and just yesterday I was able to escape," Akira said carefully. She wasn't quite sure whether to tell her brother yet about the "experiments" she had gone through or not.

"And?" said Hiro.

"And then I came here," said Akira. "You were only two when I was taken. You probably don't remember me."

"Yeah . . . well, I don't. But how can this be _real_?" Hiro spluttered. "I mean . . . how old are you?"

"Eighteen," replied Akira.

"The same age as Tadashi . . ." muttered Hiro, looking down at the wooden table. "That would mean you're twins. . . ."

"Tadashi. Where is he?" asked Akira. She felt a sense of uncertainty as Hiro looked up at her with a dark look in his eyes.

"Hiro? Where is Tadashi?" Akira said again.

"He's dead," said Hiro.

Akira gasped and put a hand to her mouth. Tadashi? Dead? How could that be possible? She just couldn't believe it – she didn't _want_ to believe it –

"When – how?" she said quietly, as tears welled up into her eyes.

"There . . . there was a fire," Hiro said. He seemed to be on the verge of tears as well. "It was at Tadashi's school. He wanted to save a teacher there, and. . . ." He gulped. Tears were now pouring down his face. "The building exploded. He didn't make it out in time."

Akira's face was covered with at least as many tears as her brother's.

"Hiro. . . ." She moved to a chair closest to him and tried to put an arm around him.

Hiro pulled away from her. "How do I even know you're my sister? How do I even know that you're not here to do something terrible to me and Aunt Cass?"

Akira took a shuddering breath. "I don't know. If Dashi was here, maybe this would make more sense. . . ."

Hiro gaped at her. "That's – that's my nickname for him!"

Akira's eyes widened. "Really?"

"I used to call him that all the time . . . well, when we were younger, anyway." Hiro gave a tiny little laugh.

Akira gave smile exactly the same size as her brother's laugh. "Really? That's . . . that's adorable."

Hiro smiled. "I know, right?" Then his face fell. "But how do I know it's really you? How come no one ever told me about you? Why aren't there any pictures of you in the house?"

Akira's smile faltered. "Hiro, I have absolutely no idea. When I was at the gas station Aunt Cass found me at, she looked right at me as though she had no idea who I was. You would have thought she'd recognize her own niece, even after she'd been missing for twelve years. . . ."

Hiro cocked his head to the side. "It's funny. To me, you look so familiar. You kind of resemble Tadashi, but more of in a . . . female way. But I can't tell for sure."

Akira raised her eyebrows, widened her eyes, and stuck her tongue out at him. "This help?"

Hiro grinned. "Not really."

"What about this?" Akira made a face at him that she remembered from one of Tadashi's and her favorite movies known as "Tangled."

Hiro gasped. "The Smolder! You look just like Tadashi when he did that to girls from school!" he exclaimed, pointing a finger at her.

"Did you spy on him when he went on dates or something?" asked Akira, smiling.

"No . . ." Hiro said in a lofty voice.

Akira rolled her eyes. "Oh, Hiro."

"So, trick question," said Hiro, suddenly more serious. "What was the movie Aunt Cass played for you and Dashi when Mom was having me?"

"'Frozen,'" answered Akira promptly. "I remember me and Dashi sang all the songs together. We'd seen the movie a million times and had all of them memorized. 'Love is an Open Door' was one of our favorites, because we got to sing it together." Her eyes started filling up with tears.

Hiro's eyes widened. "You got it exactly right!"

Akira blinked her eyes rapidly to get rid of the tears. "But how do you know that? Momma was giving _birth_ to you when that happened!"

Hiro rubbed his thumbs together and looked down at them with an air of not caring much about anything. "I hear things from different places . . . actually, it was Tadashi." He looked back up at Akira. "So you really are my sister, huh?"

"The one and only." Akira smiled. Then she stood up suddenly. "Well, I'd better finish eating and get downstairs. Aunt Cass wants me to work at the café with her in order to stay here."

"Have you told you're . . . ?" Hiro's voice trailed off uncertainly.

"Her long-lost niece? No, you dummy," Akira said affectionately, ruffling his hair. "She didn't recognize me when she brought me in; what did you think I did, walk right up to her and say, 'Hey, sorry, but did you know that I'm Akira Hamada, long-lost daughter of your brother, missing-for-twelve-years niece of you'? No, I didn't think so."

Hiro grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. Go on, your majesty."

"I shall." Akira smiled and walked out of the room, leaving Hiro to ponder on the fact that apparently, he had indeed just found his long-lost sister.


	6. Chapter 5: Raina

**A/N: Hezzlevoo. Sorry for the very, very late update. It seems to be ten days over a month. . . . X/ Ah, well. Anyways, yeah, this chapter is VEEEEERY short, but at least it's something. ENJOY!**

 **I don't own Big Hero 6.**

 **More of the movie characters will come along soon. Probably. At some point they will. Just so you know.**

 **Read on! (BTW, thanks for the review). :)**

* * *

Chapter Five

Raina

As soon as his sister had left, Hiro grabbed his phone from off the table and started typing up a certain someone's number. As a matter of fact, he hadn't been entirely truthful when he said he was supposed to be hanging out with the gang today. In truth – it was a certain special someone that wasn't part of the gang with whom he would like to speak.

It was a girl he had met the other day. He had, thanks to Aunt Cass's idea, gotten a job at the local pet store. There, while he had been trying to get a stubborn beta fish to eat its food instead of the bloodworms he had been feeding it (because it was the only thing available at the time and he needed to feed the fish _something_ ), a girl had come by, asking about the fish.

Hiro flashed back to it and smiled foolishly and giggled like a little girl — something he would never admit to _anyone_. Ever.

 _"Excuse me, little boy? 'Ow much are ze fish?" came a pretty voice in a French accent._

 _Hiro whirled around from the shelf carrying lots and lots of beta fish in little plastic containers. Now his head felt dizzy._

 _He was staring at the face of the prettiest girl he had ever seen in his life. She had long, wavy, golden-brown hair, and sharp blue eyes. She stood slightly shorter than him, for which he was kind of glad, because most of the girls he knew were taller than him – and she seemed about his age. She carried a light blue purse that corresponded well with her flowery blue and gray outfit. She wore brown glasses that reminded him of rootbeer. She was slim and had a sharp short of nose and high cheekbones. Her proper position and expression sort of reminded Hiro of a posh poodle. Or a baby giraffe._

 _"Wh-what?" he stuttered._

 _"'Ow much are ze fish?" the girl repeated. "It doesn't say."_

 _"Oh!" Hiro said hurriedly. "Sorry, yeah, um. . . . How many do you want?"_

 _"'Ow much are zey for one? Zat is all I am asking," said the girl irritably._

 _"Oh, um . . . seven dollars, forty-seven cents for the boys, six dollars, sixty-two cents for the girls," said Hiro, scratching his head. "How many did you want?"_

 _"Now zat you 'ave answered my first question, I will tell you," the girl replied. "Four. Two male and two female."_

 _Hiro did an extremely fast calculation in his head – it took only a split second for him to figure out how much she was to spend. "That'll be twenty-eight dollars, eighteen cents," he said suddenly._

 _"Excuse me?" said the girl, confused._

 _"Oh—that's the price of the beta fish altogether," Hiro replied sheepishly._

 _The girl gave him a curious look. "Did you figure zat out just now?" she asked wonderingly._

 _"Yeah . . . I did," said Hiro uncertainly. "Why?"_

 _"Zat is amazing," said the girl. Then she turned back to the fish._

 _"Okay . . . well . . . go ahead," said Hiro awkwardly – mostly to himself, though. He took a step backward, intending to step away from the betas so that the girl could get a better look at them, but ended up nearly falling into them._

 _The girl gave a giggle and held out a hand for him._

 _"Oh – sorry," Hiro muttered as she helped him up._

 _"Zat is all right," she said good-naturedly. "I am Raina, by the way."_

 _"Hiro," said Hiro. He grinned._

 _Raina smiled softly back at him. "I like that. Hiro." She then turned back to the fish. "Which do you think would do best, Hiro?" she asked._

 _"Oh, I dunno. . . ." Hiro scratched the back of his head. His gaze flitted from the fish to Raina and back again. "Maybe . . . those," he said, pointing to a group of fish. They matched Raina's outfit, eyes, and hair perfectly – a turquoise boy, a gray girl, a light blue boy, and a deep brown girl._

 _"Just . . . not this one," he added, as Raina picked the brown one up to inspect it. He pointed at the blue and green one that only ate bloodworms. "Only eats fish treats."_

 _Raina giggled again. "All right, zen. Zese will do nicely." She started piling two on top of one another to take two in each hand. She stopped. "Hiro," she said, "do you zink you could 'elp me carry zese to ze cash register? Only I don't zink it would be wise to carry zem like zis. I could drop one of zem."_

 _Hiro perked up at once. "Of course! Of course, M'lady."_

 _She giggled once more._

Hiro sighed. He'd then helped with the fish, and then he'd gotten Raina's phone number and given her his own. He'd also gotten yelled at by his boss for not finishing the fish feeding, but he didn't care.

He hadn't exactly wanted his Aunt Cass and Akira – the girl who was apparently his long-lost sister – to know who it was. They'd tease him. Well, maybe not so much Akira – but then again maybe. He couldn't believe he'd forgotten about the "siblingly" fact in his flashback – as he called it. But anyway, it was time to call back for that date he and Raina were supposed to be having right now.

At last, the numbers had been typed, the phone put up to his ear, and Hiro was ready to go. He was absently humming "Love is an Open Door" to himself while he waited for Raina to answer before he caught himself, disgusted. And then the buzzing stopped.

"Hello?" came the familiar French-accented voice from the other end of the phone.

"Hi!" Hiro nearly shouted.

He heard the familiar giggling.

"Hiro, hello!" said Raina. "Are you ready now?"

"You know it, baby!" said Hiro enthusiastically.

More giggling.

"Great. So I'll meet you at ze restaurant, then?" said Raina.

"You got it," replied Hiro.

"Good. Bye!" said Raina.

"Bye," said Hiro airily.

Raina hung up. Hiro was in a daze. He really was one lucky guy. . . .


	7. Chapter 6: The Unlucky Lobster

**A/N: HI, GUYS! I BE NOT DEAD! I BE ONLY SLEEPING . . . FROM STORY!**

 **OKAY, NOW IT BE TIME TO READ CHAPTER. YOU WILL EITHER EXPLODE OR DIE AT THE END OF IT. ACTUALLY, IF YOU EXPLODE, YOU WILL DIE, SO YOU WILL DIE ANYWAYS, BUUUUUT. . . . WHATEVER. :P**

 **PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL OF MY NEW FAVORITERS AND FOLLOWERS!  
**

 **READ ON!**

* * *

Chapter Six

The Unlucky Lobster

Hiro dropped his phone down on the table, realized that he might need it at the restaurant, and hurriedly picked it back up amd dropped it in his pocket. Then he dashed downstairs, through the cafe (where Aunt Cass shook her head fondly at him), and darted outside, where he hopped onto Tadashi's old moped.

This was it.

He was going to see the girl of his dreams — _again_!

There was the grin of a happy boy in love on Hiro's face as he zoomed through the crowded streets of San Fransokyo. Cars honked and people yelled, but the teenage boy was oblivious to it all — that was, until he realized that he'd just gone through the street just as a bunch of cars were doing the same. That made him a little more aware of his surroundings.

Finally, he reached it: the Unlucky Lobster. Why the restaurant was called that, Hiro had no clue, but Raina had wanted to meet here, so meh. Who cared about titles? He was going on a _date_.

As Hiro rode the moped to a stop in front of the Unlucky Lobster, he stared up at it. It was a small place, and a bit shabby, too, but looked like it had once attempted to be a fancy restaurant. It was funny, really; Hiro and Raina had met at Hiro's job of selling live fish for pets, and at this place, they sold _dead_ fish for _food_.

He chuckled to himself a little slap-happily. Then a wave of nervousness overcame him as he approached the door. Raina would be in there. He wondered if he looked good enough? What would happen if Raina decided she didn't like him anymore?!

Hiro frantically started smoothing back his ruffled hair to no avail. It just — wouldn't — lie — flat!

He started smoothing it over more and more frantically — that is, until he saw a familiar face in the glass door that he was using as a mirror.

Hiro whirled around, pushing his hans against the door in an attempt at a casual position — but it swung open, and he barely caught himself from falling right into the building.

"Oh! Heeeeey, Raina," he said, leaning on the wall, which was thankfully very firm indeed.

Raina giggled. "Hi, Hiro."

Man, would those eyes make every guy feel like this?

"Hi!" Hiro replied. He tossed his hair back.

Raina giggled again. "Zey don't call zis the Unlucky Lobster for nothing, now, do zey?"

Hiro laughed uncertainly. "Awe, yeah, u-hu . . . wait a sec — did you just call me a lobster?"

Raina laughed again. "You are the one who said it."

Hiro scratched the back if his neck. "U-hu, guess so."

"Shall we go inside, then?" said Raina, pointing at the door.

"What? Oh, yeah — yeah, let's go inside. I'm starving!"

In truth, Hiro wasn't really _starving_ — he'd had to eat breakfast at Aunt Cass's in order to prevent any suspicion — but he didn't care.

After all, brunch was just — brunch!

* * *

Akira sighed as she stepped into her aunt's café. She hadn't been here in such a long time . . . not for twelve years.

"Akari!" came the voice of Aunt Cass from by the cash register on a counter, before which sits a container full of donuts and cookies and things like that.

Akira walked over to her. "Hi, Au — I mean, hi, Cass."

"Hi," she said, wiping a strand of hair out of her face. "All right, you wanna work here, right?"

"Right," said Akira. "What do I do first?"

"Well, we don't have any customers quite yet," said Aunt Cass, "so I can give you a little tour before they come."

Akira gave a small smile to herself. She'd already explored her aunt's café a hundred times before, but she sort of needed an update on it, and was happy for the tour.

"Okay, so, uh, here are the donuts and then here are the drinks —" Aunt Cass started. Suddenly she stopped. A bell was ringing, and both woman and girl's gazes turned to the door.

"Honey Lemon! Fred! Gogo! Wasabi! Everybody!" Cass spluttered as a group of people burst through the doorway.

"Hey, Cass!" called a tall blond girl. She shoved her large, round glasses up her button nose.

"Hi!" Cass replied. She looked surprised. "What are you guys doing here? Weren't you supposed to be hanging out with Hiro?"

A short, black-haired girl scrunched her eyebrows and loudly popped a piece of bright pink bubblegum. "We were just coming over to see if he wanted to see a movie with the rest of us," she said.

"Yeah! 'Megalatron 3: Power Within'," exclaimed a tallish, light-haired and tomato-nosed young man. "It's gonna be _epic_."

"Wh-who are you?" stuttered the other man uncertainly. He had dark skin and hair and a confused and also slightly scared expression.

Akira started. She hadn't expected any of these people — whomever they were — to talk to her.

"My name is Akira," she said after a moment.

"Oh," said the man. He was staring at her, his expression still confused.

Akira suddenly felt a little self-conscious. She felt her cheeks go crimson and turned to Cass, giving her a questioning look.

"Oh!" said Cass. "Yes. So, everyone, this is Akira. Akira, this is Honey Lemon —" She pointed at the blond girl "— Gogo —" She pointed at the short one "— Fred —" She pointed at the tomato-nosed guy "— and Wasabi," Cass finished, finally gesturing towards the black man.

They all waved or nodded and smiled at Akira when Cass introduced them.

"These are Hiro's friends from his school, SFIT," Cass explained.

Akira gasped. "My l — Hiro goes to SFIT?" she stuttered, catching herself quickly. She was going to say "little brother," but of course she couldn't.

"Yes," Cass replied proudly, beaming. "He's just so smart! Just like Tadashi . . . except, well . . . a prodigy. . . ." She stopped, staring off into the distance. Her eyes shone a little. Her expression was very sad.

"I'm sorry," she said, sniffing. "Tadashi was my older nephew." She stopped and held her breath. Akira assumed that she was trying not to cry.

"He was our friend," said Gogo solemnly. Honey Lemon nodded beside her, and Fred put an arm around the blond girl's shoulders.

Cass nodded, taking a deep, shuddering breath. "Yes, he was. He . . . he passed away in a fire at school."

There was a silence as Akira digested the words of Aunt Cass and Gogo. She . . . she knew that her brother was dead. The harsh reality of it had struck her just minutes previously. She'd had no idea why it had to happen.

She still didn't.

"Well!" said Cass suddenly, breaking the silence. "You guys have got a movie to catch, and . . . I've got a fourteen-year-old prodigy to call."

"We'll see you later, then," said Honey Lemon.

"Yeah . . . later," agreed Wasabi. His voice went up an octave as he said it. He was still staring at Akira with his mouth slightly open.

"Bye," said Akira slightly pointedly, and then the group of people in front of her left the café with a jingling of the bell as the door shut behind them.

* * *

"Ah!"

The figure of a defeated-looking young man sat up suddenly in the hard, white-sheeted bed, panting and sweating profusely. He was confused, and he was scared, and he was in pain.

His arms and legs and back felt like they were on fire. His cheeks felt raw and numb.

He was in a dark room that looked like it might be one from a hospital, except for different — there was not quite enough light. His panting was fading away, and his mind was quickly registering what might be going on. But it wasn't quite doing it properly.

Suddenly, a voice broke through, and the man didn't realize how silent it had been until it was broken.

"Hello, Tadashi. I'm glad to see you're finally awake.

"Now, let's get started."

 **A/N: Merry Christmas Eve. *evil laughter***

 **SEE YOU NEXT TIME!**

 **~MagicFireTiger**


	8. Chapter 7: Pain

**A/N: There you go! New chapter! Thanks for the favorite! Happy New Year's Eve, everyone! And for some of you, Happy New Year! Anyway . . . READ ON! By the way . . . if you can . . . and want to . . . please review! They seriously make me want to write more.**

 **Okay, _now_ READ ON!**

Chapter Seven

Pain

Akira turned around to ask Aunt Cass what they were going to do next, as the older woman was behind her. She opened her mouth to speak, but the words never left her mouth. Cass had a funny expression on her face. Her head was tilted slightly, her eyebrows scrunched together, her lips an inch apart.

"A — Cass?" Akira asked uncertainly. "What's up?"

There was a pause as Cass continued staring out of the glass door that the teenagers had just gone through. Then she started and said, "What? Oh, nothing. It's just. . . ." She trailed off. She shook her head.

"What is it?" Akira pressed.

"Well . . . if you must know," Cass started, "it's just that . . . Tadashsi . . . he . . . he . . . well, years ago, when he was just six, I think, he and his parents and Hiro had a . . . traumatic experience. They were on their way home from a fair, and two men had shot at them. Well, none of them got hurt, and they all ended up getting home safely, but Tadashi kept on yelling about someone named Akira.

"We don't know who he was talking about," Cass continued sadly. "We thought it must have been shock. He kept yelling about her, waking up in the middle of the night, crying, shouting, 'Akira!', you know. But there wasn't anyone named Akira to help him. It might have been his great-grandmother he was talking about, but she died before Justin — my brother — Tadashi's father — was even in high school.

"So . . . it was just a little strange. But you just said your name was Akira. I thought it was Akari?" Aunt Cass looked at her questioningly.

Akira felt her heart skip a beat. She'd completely forgotten to say her fake name when introducing herself to Tadashi's old school friends. . . . Well, she assumed they were her twin brother's old school friends, at least.

This was bad. This was very, very bad. This was _really_ bad.

"Oh . . ." Akira said uncertainly. She had no clue how to get out of this. "Well . . . ehe . . . guess I just slipped up, huh? Similar names."

Aunt Cass looked at her closely for a moment. Then she said, "Yeah, I guess so." She turned around. "Well, let's finish up this tour—well, start it, actually. Come on, Akari."

Akira let out a sigh of relief. Cass had let it go for now . . . but what about next time? What if Akira slipped up again? She couldn't use the same excuse twice . . . her aunt would get suspicious.

"Okay," she said. "Let's get started."

Did food at the Unlucky Lobster always take this long to cook?

Hiro's eyes darted around the room, looking for a conversation topic. He needed to find something to talk about with Raina. It was taking forever for the food to come, and he was getting fidgety. They hadn't talked at all during the several minutes after they had ordered their food.

The place was small and smelled fishy. Literally and figuratively. He wasn't sure how he liked the way those two dudes in the corner were looking at him. . . . Hiro wished he had a seat farther away from them, but, unfortunately, the place was filled, and the only seat available was where he and Raina were sitting right now, so he'd had to just forget his nervousness and let it go.

But he still didn't like the way those two men were eyeing Raina.

Hiro sighed. He couldn't — _mustn't_ — be bothered by those guys right now. He was on a date with the prettiest girl he'd ever met, and he was searching for a conversation topic that seemed frightfully nonexistent.

To top it all, his stomach seemed like it was trying to eat him from the inside out. He wondered if that was possible.

Wait a sec—conversation topic! Too weak? Too childish?

Kind of . . . but it was the only thing he had. So he went for it.

"So . . . uh . . . Raina," he said in the least awkward way possible. It turned out to be a lot more awkward than he had anticipated.

Raina turned to look at him. She'd been gazing at the men with a frown on her face, which vanished and turned into a beam as she faced Hiro.

"Yes?" she said.

A little more confidence filling him, Hiro said, "So . . . feels like my stomach's trying to eat me from the inside out. Ever felt that way before?"

Raina cocked her head. "What do you mean?"

"Just . . . uh . . ." Hiro said feebly. "Starving," he muttered. His face felt hot with shame.

Raina gave a soft smile. "Of course I 'ave felt like I'm starving, Hiro! I'm sure everyone has." She laughed her pretty little laugh.

"Ehe . . . yeah . . . right. . . ." Hiro laughed a little, too, glad that she had decided not to laugh _at_ him.

There was another silence.

Hiro's head shot up suddenly from his gaze at the table. A waitress was winding her way towards them, trays filled with the food they had ordered in her hands.

"FOOD!" Hiro nearly shouted, causing some nearby diners to stare.

Raina laughed. "Yes, food, Hiro."

For a second, Hiro thought that the waitress was going to stop at somebody else, and if she did, he might throttle the person . . . in his mind. What?! No! No throttling! No throttling at all!

And then the food had arrived. Hiro could barely contain himself from grabbing everything he could. He'd become rather hungry in the last half-an-hour or so that he had waited for the food.

Soon enough, Hiro and Raina were eating their way through their meals, Hiro of lobster, Raina of salad. She said that she didn't like seafood, and salad was the only thing on the menu besides that. So she'd had that instead of lobster.

"So what high school do you go to, Hiro?" asked Raina after she had swallowed a dainty bite of her salad.

Hiro swallowed a bite of lobster. "SFIT," he said thickly.

Raina's eyebrows went up. She lowered the lettuce-covered fork she had been about to place in her mouth. "SFIT?" she said in awe.

"Yeah. . . ." Hiro scratched the back of his neck. "College. Not high school."

Raina's beautiful blue eyes were wide. "Zat is very impressive for an 'igh- school-aged boy! You would be in 'igh school, I take it?"

"Yeah," said Hiro a little sheepishly. "I would."

Raina looked at him curiously. Then her face split into a beam. "Zat is wonderful!"

"Yeah . . ." said Hiro. "I guess it is."

He looked down at his food. There was a silence as he and Raina ate.

Then — he just _had_ to say it — he said, "Hey . . . would you like to see something _epic_?"

Raina cocked her head. "What iz it?"

Hiro grinned. "It's not an it — well, technically it _is_ an it — but it's a he. And his name is Baymax."

"What? Where am I?" asked Tadashi. Or at least, that's what he tried to ask. The words came out all croaky. Unused.

"You're somewhere that can help you — if you help us," said the same voice that had just spoken to him. It was a feminine voice, and belonged to someone in a white coat. As Tadashi's vision became clearer, he realized it was a short-ish woman with a clipboard and pen in her hands.

"What?" said Tadashi. He tried to sit up, but with a single movement, his stomach seemed to catch on fire.

"Sit down," said the woman. She walked over to him and put a hand on his. It was cold and unpleasant.

Tadashi didn't object; he figured it would probably hurt really badly, too.

He took a deep breath. "Where am I?" he repeated.

"I already told you. You're in a place where you can have help," replied the woman. She wrote something down on her clipboard.

Tadashi groaned. "Fine. Why am I here?"

"Because we need you," the woman said stoutly. "But that's beside the point. I need to ask you a few questions. What is the last thing that you remember?"

"I —" Tadashi's eyebrows scrunched up. He wasn't sure. He . . . wait. . . .

Pain was what he remembered. Terrible, terrible pain. But before that . . . going in . . . to SFIT . . . to save Professor Callaghan.

Fire.

Pain.

An explosion.

That was what he remembered.

But Tadashi didn't trust this woman . . . and he was not going to tell her a single thing.


End file.
